I am not really sure if by colonial nations you mean colonizers themselves or the nations they conquered, but the naval aspect of the colonizers, esepcially in the 16th century overlaps a lot with my interests and I have few recommendations.

For more social aspects of every day lives (and perhaps traditions) I would recommend highly:

• Spain's Men of the Sea: Daily Life on the Indies Fleets in the Sixteenth Century by Pérez-Mallaína which is amazing overview of Spanish ships crossing the Atlantic during 16th century

There are also some books I know (in English) that handle the logistical and technical way the Spanish Atlantic and Pacific fleets were organized, but the ones I know of are by now a bit on the older side and likely better stuff exists

For English history there are two volumes of

• The Social History of English Seamen nominally by Cherly Fury, but the books are collections of articles from numerous authors covering different aspects of mariner life and landscape.

But I suspect there is like a billion more English books on English naval matters, especially post 1600s. It's a highly covered topic.

For Portuguese (my area) themselves I don't have any readily available book of similar quality and scope. There is:

• Shipbuilding, Navigation and the Portuguese in Pre-modern India by K.S. Mathew, which while covers most of the stuff, is a strange read sort of speak.

The maritime topics are also covered in works of numerous scholars like Filipe Castro, Russel-Wood, M. Newitt, Ernst van Veen, and others. Singling out an oldie but goldie Charles Boxer who touches a lot on details of maritime culture in his:

• Portuguese Seaborne Empire. Which is actually outdated in lots of things, but likely still holds up as intro to maritime aspects of Portugal

Another work from Boxer i really want to highlight are his translations of:

• Tragic history of the sea which is a collection of narratives of Portuguese shipwrecks from the late 16th early 17th century, which were printed and widely read in Portugal and as such are a glimpse in their mindset, as well as some of the naval aspects

the last work brings us to Primary sources of which there are many relevant, even translated to English.

Hakluyt society has translated many primary sources of voyages of discoveries, exploration and voyages to English. I think anyone interested in actual culture of naval life and traditions on the sea should go through them as they are invaluable.

Many of the Hakluyt publications are from 19th century, early 20th and their copyright is expired and are now available for free on sites like gutenberg.org or archive.org. Here's a list with some links

Here are some collecting the primary journals we have of the notable voyages :

• The journal of his first voyage to America by Columbus, Christopher - 19th century translation so possible mistakes corrected in modern versions. Also the original journal in its original form does not exist, these are the notes compiled by De Las Casas from the original.
• A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499. English translation by Ravenstein E.G. Hakluyt Society (1898). original journal of Vasco Da Gama's journey to India and back with descriptions. Stops little before final arrival to Portugal.
• Voyage Of Pedro Alvares Cabral To Brazil And India by Greenlee, William (Hakluyt Society 1937). Detailing the events of the Second Portuguese expedition to India. Not the original journal of the voyage but has some collected letters.
• The Letters of Amerigo Vespucci and Other Documents Illustrative of His Career English translation by Markham, Hakluyt Society (1894). Note that the first letter is now mostly considered fabrication of the early 16th century, and there is some doubt if the first voyage even took place.
• The First Voyage Round the World, by Magellan - published by Hakluyt Society (1874). Collection of translated documents relating to voyage of Magellan

Spain, China, and Japan in Manila, 1571-1644 by Birgit Tremml-Werner explores the nuanced political, economic, and religious relationships anong those three nations against the backdrop of the colonial port capital of Manila.

Convicts or Conquistadores? Spanish Soldiers in the Seventeenth-Century Pacific by Stephanie J. Mawson looks at the often lonely and desperate plight of ordinary Mexican soldiers dispatched to Spanish garrisons across the Pacific Rim.

Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker's The Many-Headed Hydra is essential reading in the domain the OP is asking about.

I'd add Robert Harms, The Diligent, focused on the voyage of a single slaving ship.

I'll point out two really readable works from Daniel Vickers (of "Good Will Hunting" fame):

• Daniel Vickers and Vince Walsh, Young Men and the Sea: Yankee Seafarers in the Age of Sail (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007).
• Daniel Vickers, Farmers & Fishermen: Two Centuries of Work in Essex County, Massachusetts, 1630-1850, New edition (Chapel Hill: Omohundro Institute and University of North Carolina Press, 1994).

Both of these books focus on various elements of sea-connected culture in 17th-19th century New England. Farmers and Fisherman, as the title implies, focuses on the economic features of these two prominent (at the time) New England professions. Young Men and the Sea focuses a little more explicitly on the naval/sea-specific type content that you seem to be looking for. In both works, Vickers manages to be incredibly readable without sacrificing scholarly quality, which is why I really enjoyed reading these.

I'M not going too much into detail, as I am a little busy at the moment.
Maybe check the Hakluyt Society in London, they are dealing with seafaring history.
Especially nice is Kathie Parker (UCL, I think) or Jamie Goodall, who focuses on piracy :-)
If you can read German, I can suggest Roland Wenzlhuemer (now in Munich, before that my Prof in Heidelberg!) When it comes to the Americas, I can suggest Stefanie Gänger, now Prof in Heidelberg). Always a good start: Jürgen Osterhammel :-)
(I am unpublished but am working on my PhD on George Anson's circumnavigation)
You might want to check out the "Prize Papers" project that The National Archives (Randolph Cock and Amanda Bevan are truly amazing people) and the University of Oldenburg (Germany, Prof. Dagmar Freist and her team are as far as I know them also great people and very smart!) have going on together. Other than that: Frykmann: Wooden world upside down. Some stuff about port cities: Brad Beaven et al. : Port Towns and Urban Cultures. Andrade: Gunpowder Age. Mcleod Anne - Mid Eighteenth Century Navy
I know that Paul Seaward and parliamentary history online are also working on different works :-)

That's what I can think of without referring to my reading list, but should be a good start